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Chloe Primerano of Team Canada and Abbey Murphy of Team USA at the 2024 Rivalry Series. (Photo by … [+] Eakin Howard/Getty Images)
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Chloe Primerano’s debut with Canada’s senior women’s national team is just one point of interest in this week’s Canada/USA Rivalry Series games.
In recent years, the series has been a major highlight on the women’s hockey calendar — one of the only chances for fans to watch many of the sport’s top players in action outside the world championship or the Olympics.
This year, the stage is a bit different. With the PWHL’s second season expanded from 24 to 30 games and set to kick off on Nov. 30, the series has been reduced from a best-of-seven to a best-of-five. The first three games are being played stateside this week, with the final two in Canada in February.
The Rivalry Series is a golden opportunity for national team coaches John Wroblewski of Team USA and Troy Ryan of Canada to take a look at players who could be in line for roster spots for the 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship, which will take place from Apr. 9-20 in Czechia. At this point, they’re also starting to think about the Winter Olympics in Italy in 2026.
So the spotlight is shining brightly on the collegiate players on both teams’ rosters.
Chloe Primerano Impresses
For Canada, that’s just one player: 17-year-old defender Chloe Primerano. After finishing high school a year early, the University of Minnesota freshman showed why she’s being touted as a future star with a dazzling shootout goal which gave Canada the 5-4 win over the U.S. on Friday night in Salt Lake City, Utah.
A native of North Vancouver. B.C., Primerano is following in the footsteps of the NHL’s last two first-overall draft picks, Connor Bedard and Mackline Celebrini, who hail from the same home town.
Primerano’s name first became widely known in hockey circles following her U15 season on a boys’ team at the Burnaby Winter Club. She became the first female skater ever to be selected in any CHL prospects draft when she was chosen 268th overall by the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League in May of 2022.
Primerano took part in two Giants training camps, in 2022 and 2023, and played for the U18 women’s team at Kelowna’s Rink Hockey Academy for two seasons. Both years, she was named MVP of her CSSHL league.
Last January, Primerano donned the maple leaf for the first time at the U18 women’s worlds in Switzerland. Again, she was named MVP as she set a record for defenders with eight goals and eight assists for 16 points in just six games, and was a plus-18. Canada had to settle for a bronze medal after a 4-2 upset by the Czechs in the semi-finals.
As a freshman at Minnesota, Primerano has 1-5-6 in 10 games for the Golden Gophers, who are ranked third in the nation with an 8-3-1 record.
“Being underage, being 17, and all of the hype that she’s got, I think she’s certainly lived up to the expectations,” said Team USA forward Grace Zumwinkle, who scored twice herself on Friday night.
A former co-captain of the Gophers and the 2024 PWHL rookie of the year with the Minnesota Frost, Zumwinkle has been watching Primerano at her alma mater while training in her home state ahead of her second pro season.
“Heading into college, it’s a learning curve — not just on the ice, but socially,” she added. “I think there’s a lot of girls that are mentoring and taking her under their wing, and I think she only has a bright future ahead of her. I’m curious to see how she will continue to evolve and develop.”
U.S. Collegians are Front and Center
Zumwinkle’s U.S. team has nine NCAA players on the roster. That list includes 2024 women’s worlds MVP Laila Edwards, a junior who leads the nation with 13 goals for top-ranked Wisconsin. Even with that unmistakable scoring touch, Wroblewski is experimenting with the 6-foot-1 20-year-old on the blue line for the Rivalry Series. She has two assists in the first two games.
Other notable collegians on the U.S. roster include Edwards’ Wisconsin teammate, Lacey Eden, who scored twice in the Americans’ 7-2 rout over Canada in San Jose on Wednesday. Penn State’s Tessa Jannecke has posted three assists and Primerano’s Minnesota teammate, senior Abbey Murphy, has logged two goals and an assist.
Knight Time
U.S. captain Hilary Knight, 35, did not dress for Game 1 in San Jose. But she scored two third-period goals on Friday, erasing a 4-1 deficit and forcing overtime.
All eyes will be on Knight, a native of Sun Valley, Idaho, for this week’s finale. For the first time ever, the most decorated player in women’s hockey history will have the opportunity to suit up for Team USA in her home state when Game 3 goes down on Sunday at Idaho Central Arena in Boise.
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